[Vision2020] Racism Enshrined in Arizona Law - The GeorgiaSecurity and Immigration Compliance Act

Tue Apr 27 15:36:04 PDT 2010

Greetings:

I've followed the debate on this thread and I've appreciated much of the input.  Below I repost a column that I wrote several years ago.

I worked along with Mexicans picking pears in the orchards around Medford where I grew up.  I was the only illegal working:  I was 14 and under-aged and the Mexicans were on the Bracero program.  At the stroke of midnight one day in April, 1964, all those workers, who had transformed the fields of the Southwest and California into some of the most productive food producing areas in the world, told to leave even though their labor was needed more than ever.

I'm not saying that the Bracero program should be reinstated because these people worked and lived under atrocious conditions, but we do need a combination of a human-rights based guest worker program and amnesty for those living and working here for years.

In my column I also critique an analogy that was once running around the web about uninvited guests in one's home.

Nick Gier

LONG LIVE THE BRACEROS: 

ESSENTIAL GUEST WORKERS NOT FELONS

In 1958 I got my first job picking pears in my hometown of Medford, Oregon. With 10,000 acres of orchards, Medford is called the Pear Capital of the World. 

Except for a few migrant families from the South, I was the only white kid in the orchards. Most of my peers thought I was crazy taking on such demeaning work.  My crew boss thought that I was saving money for a "jalopy," and he was mystified when I told him that I was saving for college.

 Most of the pickers were Mexicans hired on the Bracero Program.  I was paid 12 cents a box and one day I picked 150 boxes, not bad earnings for a 14-year-old 48 years ago.  I was not sure how much the Mexicans were being paid, but at least they were legal. I was not because I lied about my age to get the job. I will also get my social security from that job; even after fighting the courts the Braceros were denied the benefits from the deductions from their wages.

The Bracero Program was started in 1942 because of the severe labor shortages during the war.  More than 4 million Mexicans crossed the border legally, and they helped transform America's orchards and fields into the most productive farms in the world.  The program ended in 1964, but the demand for this labor was higher than ever, and millions more began to cross the border illegally. 

          There is an argument by analogy against immigrants that is making its rounds on the internet.  I will offer an edited version and then give my critique.

Let's say I break into your house.  Let's say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave.  But I say, "I've made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors; I've done all the things you don't like to do.  

"I'm hard-working and honest. Not only must you let me stay, you must add me to your family's insurance plan and provide other benefits to me and to my family. If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my right to be here."

          The main problem with this analogy is that, although they cross the border illegally, these people are warmly invited into American homes and employers gladly hire them without checking their papers. The last thing they are doing is calling the police. These Americans are breaking the law just as much as their workers are.  Some growers have admitted that they could mechanize much of their harvest, but they say it's cheaper to hire illegal immigrant labor.

          Testifying at a recent Senate hearing, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated that his city's economy would collapse if the estimated 500,000 illegal immigrants were deported.  He also predicted that this would happen to the national economy as well. 

The Republicans who wish to criminalize these workers' existence are the largest recipients of campaign money from employers who rather would pay illegal workers less and provide no benefits. The original Braceros worked and lived under miserable conditions and suffered brutal discrimination, and, sadly, those conditions have not improved much since the 1940s. 

Larry Kudlow, writing for the conservative journal National Review (4/4/06), praises the Bracero Program and urges Congress to expand the ridiculously low unskilled H-2B quota from 140,000 to the millions of visas that are needed for our service and agricultural economy.  

Kudlow also reminds Americans that "illegals have [paid] $7 billion to Social Security and $1.5 billion to Medicare. They are contributing to our wealth, not reducing it."  He also adds that "only 10 percent of illegal Mexicans have sent a child to an American public school and just 5 percent have received food stamps or unemployment benefits."

          It's high time to recognize the contributions of these hard working people, face the economic facts, and stop the fear mongering that has demonized a group of people who have enhanced an already great nation of immigrants.

          Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years.

________________________________

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com on behalf of Wayne Price
Sent: Tue 4/27/2010 2:38 PM
Cc: Moscow Vision 2020
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Racism Enshrined in Arizona Law - The GeorgiaSecurity and Immigration Compliance Act

No one has raised an eyebrow about this one and it appears to me to have been on the books for several years now.

July 5, 2006

The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act outlined <http://thedustininmansociety.com/blog/?p=178> 

Posted by D.A. King at 3:25 pm [Email the author <mailto:blog-da_48893k9kzakc2r45 at thedustininmansociety.org> ] [Print This Article <http://thedustininmansociety.org/blog/wp-print.php?p=178> ] [Email This Article <http://thedustininmansociety.org/blog/wp-email.php?p=178> ]

Activists, legislators and many people in the media from around the nation have been contacting us with questions about The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, authored by Georgia state Senator Chip Rogers  <http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/senate/rogersbio.htm> and signed into law April 17, 2006.

To make it easier to access information on the Georgia law [SB 529], we happily offer an outline of the law, written by Senator Rogers. I have added hyperlinks to educate the reader.

The text of the law can be read here <http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/pdf/sb529.pdf> .

Section 1 of the bill establishes that the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act shall be construed to conform to federal immigration law.

Section 2 ( Basic Pilot Program - now called E-VERIFY - <http://www.smartbusinesspractices.com/legal_howtousebasicpilot.php> ) [ALSO SEE HERE <http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/Empl_Verif_060724.pdf> ] provides that on or after July 1, 2007, all public employers and those working on public contracts must begin to register and participate in the federal work authorization program. This program is operated by the Department of Homeland Security and verifies the legal status of a person to be employed in the United States.

Section 3 states that any person convicted of trafficking a person <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&dbname=cp108&sid=cp108u20QO&refer=&r_n=hr796.108&item=&sel=TOC_591146&>  for labor or sexual servitude shall be found guilty of a felony and required to serve a prison sentence of at least one and no more than 20 years. Any person convicted of the same offense, however the victim is a minor, shall serve a prison sentence of at least 10 and no more than 20 years.

Section 4 (287 (g) Program <http://www.cairco.org/articles/art2005jul27_testimony_kobach.pdf> ) provides that the Georgia Commissioner of Public Safety must establish a "memorandum of understanding" between the state , U.S. Dept. of Justice or Homeland Security concerning the enforcement of immigration laws <http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001324----000-.html> . Certain police officers shall be trained in accordance with the "memorandum of understanding" and shall be authorized to enforce federal immigration and custom laws.

Section 5 (Law Enforcement Support Center <http://www.ice.gov/partners/lesc/index.htm> ) provides that an officer must make a reasonable effort to determine the nationality of any person charged and arrested for a felony or DUI. If the prisoner is a foreign national, the officer must verify their " lawful [immigration] status  <http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=8&sec=1325> "> either through documents in possession of the prisoner or a query to the Law Enforcement Support Center. If it is found that the prisoner is not lawfully present in the U.S., the arresting officer or officer in charge shall notify the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security <http://www.ice.gov/> .

Section 6 establishes the "Registration of Immigration Assistance Act." This Act specifies exactly what actions a person who is not an attorney can take in assisting illegal immigrants with gaining legal status.  <http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=8b76194d3e88d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=4f719c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD> Apparently, people are claiming that they can assist illegal immigrants in becoming legal citizens and charging people fees for legal assistance and advice, however they have no authority to give such assistance or advice. Any person convicted of violating this section may be fined up to $1,000.00 per violation.

Section 7 provides that after January 1, 2008 no compensation over $600.00 per year for labor services to a person who has not been verified to legally work in the U.S <http://www.law.cornell.edu/donors/solicit.php?http_referer=/uscode/search/display.html> . can be claimed as a deductible business expense for state income taxes, regardless if the individual is issued a IRS 1099 Form <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_1099> . The Georgia Commissioner of Revenue is authorized to create forms to be used in order to verify the legal status of an employee.

Section 8 (ITIN) <http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96287,00.html>  states that a withholding agent is required to withhold 6% state income tax of an individual using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number whose wages are reported on a 1099 Form.

Section 9 (SAVE Program <http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Systematic_Alien_Verification_for_Entitlements> ) states that any applicant
for federaL or state and local public benefits <http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001611----000-.html> , who is 18 years or older, must execute an affidavit that he or she is a citizen or lawfully present in the U.S. For any applicant that has indicated that they are an alien lawfully present in the U.S., the agency must verify that person's status through the Systematic Alien Verification of Entitlement Federal program. Any person who knowingly provides false information on this affidavit shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction, pay a fine of no more than $1,000.00 or be sentenced to imprisonment of no more than one year. Exceptions for this verification process include: federal exceptions such as emergency care, assistance for immunizations with respect to immunizable and communicable diseases, soup kitchens, and pre-natal care.

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